St George's breast cancer service wins award

PERFORMANCE: The breast cancer service team at the south west London acute won an NHS Improvement award for reducing the amount of time that patients spend in hospital following surgery.

A new discharge model has seen a large reduction on length of stay since it was introduced in January 2011.

Dibyesh Banerjee, consultant oncoplastic breast surgeon, said: “Most of our patients now stay in hospital for just a single night, with some being safely discharged on the same day as their surgery. When we introduced the model we had initially aimed for a target of 70 per cent of discharges within two days.

“However, we have achieved a far better result by streamlining care pathways and introducing a nurse-led discharge service. This means that patients can now be discharged efficiently and safely seven days a week, improving their experience and aiding their recovery.”